Duty | Tax | Customs for International shopping {VAT refund}

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#1,336
futiledalliance said:
Hi all! It’s been four weeks since I submitted my vat refund since leaving Paris. I’m getting nervous because most resources say I should have received it within 3 weeks.

Has anyone submitted for vat refund recently who can give me some insights on expected current refund time?
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I recently visited Paris at the end of August and submitted my tax refund forms on 31 August. For my Chanel purchase, I received the tax refund to my credit card on 5 September, so within a week. I purchased from 31 Rue Cambon and was able to check the status of my refund through the planet tax free portal.

I also made a purchase at Galeries Lafayette and that refund took a little longer as I only received it today (almost 3 weeks) back to my credit card. But again, this can be tracked through the Galeries Lafayette tax free portal which states refunds are paid in 3 to 5 weeks.

My bf made a purchase at Printemps Haussmann and is still waiting for his tax free refund.

It seems to take varying amounts of time depending on which company processes the refund.

I hope this helps!
 
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#1,337
BeaC said:
I recently visited Paris at the end of August and submitted my tax refund forms on 31 August. For my Chanel purchase, I received the tax refund to my credit card on 5 September, so within a week. I purchased from 31 Rue Cambon and was able to check the status of my refund through the planet tax free portal.

I also made a purchase at Galeries Lafayette and that refund took a little longer as I only received it today (almost 3 weeks) back to my credit card. But again, this can be tracked through the Galeries Lafayette tax free portal which states refunds are paid in 3 to 5 weeks.

My bf made a purchase at Printemps Haussmann and is still waiting for his tax free refund.

It seems to take varying amounts of time depending on which company processes the refund.

I hope this helps!
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Thank you so much!! This was so helpful. It seems like there isn’t much rhyme or reason. I left Paris on 8/21 and received my Chanel refund in three weeks. I’m still waiting on numerous refunds from Gucci and Dior so I guess I’ll just keep waiting! They do seem to come through sporadically.
 
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#1,340
I made 2 purchases at Chanel on sept 23. On Sept 24,My first tax form was scanned through the Pablo machine at the airport and got the green light. The second form was scanned by the custom officer at the window. However, when I track my refund on the planet tax free portal, it said
“ they are still waiting to receive my stamped form”. Just wondering if anyone went to Paris around this time and is having similar situation. I emailed the customer service and got no response. Thank you!
 
#1,341
xosunnicalixo said:
I made 2 purchases at Chanel on sept 23. On Sept 24,My first tax form was scanned through the Pablo machine at the airport and got the green light. The second form was scanned by the custom officer at the window. However, when I track my refund on the planet tax free portal, it said
“ they are still waiting to receive my stamped form”. Just wondering if anyone went to Paris around this time and is having similar situation. I emailed the customer service and got no response. Thank you!
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Same boat here. Left on the 26th and planet payment has only recognized one of my 4 forms, and of course not the one with my CF on it
 
#1,342
xosunnicalixo said:
I made 2 purchases at Chanel on sept 23. On Sept 24,My first tax form was scanned through the Pablo machine at the airport and got the green light. The second form was scanned by the custom officer at the window. However, when I track my refund on the planet tax free portal, it said
“ they are still waiting to receive my stamped form”. Just wondering if anyone went to Paris around this time and is having similar situation. I emailed the customer service and got no response. Thank you!
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I am STILL waiting for a refund from my purchase on 8/21 from gucci. I reached out to customer service and they insisted it would show up on my October statement, but two months later still nothing. My Chanel refund came within three weeks
 
#1,343
I scanned my forms at the Pablo machine. I was told that was it, I got the green light. And not to mail any forms or drop any forms in the box.

My sisters 4 of 9 forms scanned at the machine green. The other 5 the agent scanned at the counter and he said to take them with her. Not to drop in any box.

I’m confused as to why some people are saying they mailed the forms? Mailed them where? You just scan at the machine and wait for the light to turn green, and that’s it.
 
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#1,345
Long shot VAT question. Leaving Portugal Monday at 0600, it doesn’t seem likely there will be customs agents to stamp Global blue form. ( yes there is a self serve kiosk for the actual refund from global blue)Has anyone tried to get the customs form stamped the day before departure? Currently I have the option to change my flight and leave Sunday at noon… any thoughts or experiences appreciated.
 
#1,346
mauihappyplace said:
Long shot VAT question. Leaving Portugal Monday at 0600, it doesn’t seem likely there will be customs agents to stamp Global blue form. ( yes there is a self serve kiosk for the actual refund from global blue)Has anyone tried to get the customs form stamped the day before departure? Currently I have the option to change my flight and leave Sunday at noon… any thoughts or experiences appreciated.
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Every EU country I've been in had 24/7 service for stamping papers for this reason. Even if theyre not there at the time, you can usually call them to come over through a button or pager. I would call to confirm but this is how I understand it works everywhere, for the very reasons youre mentioning. I had a flight out of Greece once at 5AM and there still were people to stamp the receipt at 3 AM
 
#1,348
I went to London and Paris this past June and I made quite a few purchases in Paris. My experience with the VAT refund has changed for the better imo since the last time I was in Paris which was sometime in Fall 2019 pre-pandemic.

For returns via Global Blue I got text messages notifying me that I have a VAT refund form from x brand and a reminder to scan it prior to leaving the EU. I didn't sign up myself, so I'm pretty sure the retailer signs you up when they take your information in order to create the VAT refund forms. I also really like the fact that if/when you do sign up for alerts via text, Global Blue also automatically populates a digital version of your VAT bar code - that saved me because one of the bar codes on one of my paper forms apparently didn't print correctly even though from the naked eye it looked fine and so it didn't scan, but it went through when I used the digital bar code. Almost immediately after scanning I got another text message from Global Blue saying my form was approved and my refund was pending. I got refunds from Global Blue relatively quickly, definitely less than a week if not a few days later. For refunds via SolPay I was able to track my refund via their portal, they took a while to get me the refund (maybe 2 or 3 weeks later). Lesson is, make sure if you only have a paper version of your form that the bar code is printed clearly. I actually asked a retailer to reprint the SolPay form because it was very clearly not printed well.

Lastly, I don't know if it's changed since June, but my tax refund from Rue Cambon Chanel was Cerfa - it used to be another company (Planet Tax Free maybe?) and they used to refund your card immediately after point of purchase, but now it's back to the traditional scanning at the kiosks. I think I got my refund within 2 weeks after scanning from Cerfa, but just something to be aware of.
 
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#1,349
xlana said:
I went to London and Paris this past June and I made quite a few purchases in Paris. My experience with the VAT refund has changed for the better imo since the last time I was in Paris which was sometime in Fall 2019 pre-pandemic.

For returns via Global Blue I got text messages notifying me that I have a VAT refund form from x brand and a reminder to scan it prior to leaving the EU. I didn't sign up myself, so I'm pretty sure the retailer signs you up when they take your information in order to create the VAT refund forms. I also really like the fact that if/when you do sign up for alerts via text, Global Blue also automatically populates a digital version of your VAT bar code - that saved me because one of the bar codes on one of my paper forms apparently didn't print correctly even though from the naked eye it looked fine and so it didn't scan, but it went through when I used the digital bar code. Almost immediately after scanning I got another text message from Global Blue saying my form was approved and my refund was pending. I got refunds from Global Blue relatively quickly, definitely less than a week if not a few days later. For refunds via SolPay I was able to track my refund via their portal, they took a while to get me the refund (maybe 2 or 3 weeks later). Lesson is, make sure if you only have a paper version of your form that the bar code is printed clearly. I actually asked a retailer to reprint the SolPay form because it was very clearly not printed well.

Lastly, I don't know if it's changed since June, but my tax refund from Rue Cambon Chanel was Cerfa - it used to be another company (Planet Tax Free maybe?) and they used to refund your card immediately after point of purchase, but now it's back to the traditional scanning at the kiosks. I think I got my refund within 2 weeks after scanning from Cerfa, but just something to be aware of.
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oh that’s too bad, I loved the instant refunds at Chanel!
 
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